God-Tier Extraction Talent: Reincarnated in a Game-like World!
Chapter 44: First life or death battle: Activating Blood Rush!

Chapter 44: First life or death battle: Activating Blood Rush!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The fierce battle between the humans and Purpleback Drone Ants raged on, uninterrupted, with both sides fighting for dominance.

Old man Khrome held out his palm, firing blast after blast of burning flame at the nearest drone.

His expression was pale, and a slight tremble could be seen in his arms every time he used his fire.

A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

"At this pace, my mana will run out," he murmured, his voice tinged with anxiety.

With Cassie gone, the adventurers were now fighting without the physical buff.

At first, they had fared just fine, but as more and more flying ants emerged from the pit, things quickly spiraled out of control.

Sophie poured more mana into her Devouring Vines. The plant grew until it stood over four meters tall, its body wreathed in green flames.

The monstrous vine lashed toward the edge of the pit, ravenously devouring Purpleback Drones.

The sound of flesh being chewed echoed throughout the chamber.

She drank a mana potion quickly, gulping it down with a loud swallow.

Now that she had charged the Devouring Vine skill with so much mana, she was required to maintain the flow—or else, the monstrous plant might shrink.

From the corner of her eyes, she noticed the pale expression on Khrome’s face. Even his flames had become weak and harmless, now more like fireworks bouncing off the ants’ thick carapace.

’He must have reached his limit too,’ Sophie deduced, hastily retrieving another potion.

"Here, take this!" she shouted, throwing the vial toward Khrome.

He caught it with quick reflexes.

"Thanks a bunch!"

He downed it in one go and returned to the battle with renewed intensity.

FWISH! SLASH! SLASH!

Seeing their comrades fall one after the other, the ants grew wary of the silver-haired swordswoman and began avoiding her altogether.

The Purpleback Ants were an intelligent species, after all—they knew when to quit.

But guess who didn’t know how to quit?

BOOM!

Scarlet stomped the ground, launching herself into the center of the pit. She appeared above an unsuspecting drone and stomped on it midair.

CRACK!!

Its exoskeleton shattered beneath her heel, flattening the creature like pulp before it could even scream.

The other drones froze.

But the swordswoman wasn’t done.

BOOM!

She leapt off the twitching corpse before it plunged into the base and blurred forward.

SLASH!! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Three ants were bisected cleanly before they even realized she was behind them. Purple blood sprayed into the air like mist.

"Hold—stop firing!" Sophie raised her arms, and two mages halted their spells, watching in awe as a silver streak danced above the pit, slaughtering ants before they could even react.

"As expected of a Hero Rank," Khrome whistled as Scarlet drove her blade through the last ant.

Thud!

She landed softly before the others.

"Where is he and Cassie?" the vice-leader asked in a calm but firm voice.

Sophie didn’t respond. She pointed at the pit below.

"He went down there to save Cassie."

A flicker of worry crossed Scarlet’s usually emotionless face as she turned toward the pit, sensing two powerful presences clashing.

One of them was growing weaker.

Without hesitation, she jumped in.

"Should we follow?" Khrome began, but Sophie had already dashed past him, plunging into the abyss.

"Guess that’s our cue!"

Khrome leapt in after her, followed by the last mage.

The only ones left above were Grizzlenaught, Lily and Alice, who was growing weaker with each passing moment.

"Just hang in there."

---

Several minutes earlier...

Cassie’s heartbeat thundered in her ears, her face as pale as a ghost.

Just moments ago, Gabriel had gained the upper hand, forcing the Ant Queen onto the defensive.

But that advantage had been short-lived. The tide of battle quickly shifted.

’Of course... how could I be so delusional to think he could win against a monster that’s practically on par with a Hero Rank?’ she muttered, her expression full of dread.

"Piercing Fang Combo," the Ant Queen murmured.

Her body blurred forward.

CLANG!

Gabriel managed to block the first attack, but the next blow knocked his blade aside. A second slash carved into his ribs—pain exploded. A third caught him under the chin, sending sparks flying as his body lifted off the ground.

"Khuhhhh!"

He coughed blood, vision growing blurry.

He staggered back, barely on his feet.

His body was riddled with wounds, each caused by the blade-like limbs of the Ant Queen.

A puddle of blood pooled beneath him. His vision dimmed further.

"It’s happening all over again."

The scene reminded him of his final clash with Sutre.

He clenched his fists tightly.

Hero Ranks.

Who were they?

They were beings who had reached Level 100 and accumulated 500 free stat points to distribute among their attributes—aside from their natural base stats.

The creature before him... was only a level away from that.

"Now I see why it’s called the Super-Strong Ant Queen," he muttered. "It must’ve focused most of its stats into Strength and Agility."

If he had to guess, both stats were easily in the 200s.

"You’re more resilient than I thought," the Ant Queen said as she stepped toward him.

"If the circumstances were different, I would have honored you by making your death quick. But unfortunately, you killed dozens of my children... so your death shall be painful."

"Die?" Gabriel laughed, as if he’d just heard the world’s funniest joke.

’H-How can he laugh in the face of death?!’ Cassie’s eyes widened.

"You... what’s so funny?" The Ant Queen narrowed her eyes, sensing something was wrong. She couldn’t place it.

Gabriel straightened his back and took a step forward.

"Death? That’s something I can’t afford. Not this early on. The only one dying today is you."

"We shall see," the Queen rasped.

The two closed the remaining distance between them.

Eyes locked.

The air crackled with tension.

Then—

Gabriel whispered one word.

"Blood Rush!"

* * *

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